Friday 20 November 2009 15.10 EST
First published on Friday 20 November 2009 15.10 EST

A policeman swept away and killed during the devastating flooding that hit north-west England was trying to save lives by directing motorists off a bridge across a swollen river.

Bill Barker, the police officer who was swept away when a bridge collapsed in Workington, Cumbria following the severe flooding. Photograph: Cumbria Constabulary/PA

PC Bill Barker, who would have been 45tomorrow , was praised by Gordon Brown as a "very heroic, very brave man" who had given his life saving others after Cumbria was struck by what the Environment Agency described as "unprecedented" rainfall.

Severe flooding in the county was driven by a combination of heavy rain, saturated ground and swollen rivers.

Hundreds were evacuated from their homes, four bridges collapsed and main roads were blocked after 314mm (12.4in) of rain fell in 24 hours – a record for England.

Flooding was also reported in north-west Wales and Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland.

However, Cumbria was hardest hit, with an estimated 1,100 homes there affected by flooding, according to police.

Workington MP Tony Cunningham said the flood was "of biblical proportions" and he was astonished by the destruction of the Northside bridge, which led to PC Barker's death.

"The force of the river was absolutely incredible. This is a stone bridge. To wash away a bridge of that size and dimension is incredible."

Fifty people were evacuated by RAF helicopters from Cockermouth, where the river Cocker joins the Derwent, after flooding cut off the town centre.

Police said PC Barker, a father of four, had gone out on foot to direct motorists off the Northside bridge, which crosses the Derwent in Workington, when it gave way and swept him into the water at 4.40am .

Jerry Graham, the assistant chief constable of Cumbria said: "Members of the public were trying to cross the bridge, it was obvious they were going to put themselves in danger. So PC Barker went out on to the bridge on foot to try and protect them. Unfortunately when they were on the bridge, it gave way just due to the volume of water and PC Barker went into the water and was swept away."

One local resident claimed PC Barker had gone to the aid of a driver who had got stuck on the stone bridge as it collapsed, but this was not confirmed by police.

Robin Taylor, 50, a maintenance engineer from Workington, said: "I was told the police officer had responded to an emergency call and gone to the bridge to help a car that had become stuck and, as he was leading them away, the pavement side of the bridge collapsed first and he was gone. It is really sad, I thought it was absolutely shocking."

The policeman's body, still in uniform, was found washed up on a beach . His widow, Hazel, described him as her best friend and an "amazing dad". She said: "I have the comfort of knowing that Bill died doing the job he loved, and the fact that he was helping others is just typical Bill."

Evacuated residents spent last night in emergency reception centres across Cumbria. Red Cross worker Ian Rideout said many of those rescued in Cockermouth were suffering from shock.

He said: "The centre of Cockermouth looks like it has been completely destroyed – I've never seen anything like it. The water has caused so much damage that many of the homes here are completely ruined.

"We've been working non-stop and between the Red Cross and RNLI we've rescued in the region of 200 people from their homes. Last night, I went up in one of the helicopters to get an idea of the full scale of the disaster and where we should focus rescue efforts. Almost straight away we found four people on the roof of their home who needed to be winched to safety.

"Most of the people we've rescued have been in shock. One minute it's raining heavily, then the next their home is filling with water and they're being evacuated by the Red Cross."

Water was feared to have seeped into the cellar at Wordsworth House in Cockermouth, the poet's birthplace, potentially damaging valuable archives.

The death of PC Barker highlighted the dangers for rescue workers. RNLI lifeboat operations manager, Brian Ashbridge, said a "massive current" sweeping down the Derwent made conditions challenging for crews searching the river basin.

"It's absolutely horrendous. There is a huge amount of debris around in the water at the moment as well, which adds to the difficulties."

The environment secretary, Hilary Benn, who was in Cockermouth to assess the flooding, said defences built after the 2005 floods that were designed to withstand a "one-in-100-years flood" were unable to cope with the volume of water.

Benn said: "What we dealt with last night was probably more like one-in-1,000 so even the very best defences, if you have such quantities of rain in such a short space of time, can be overtopped."

Last night, flood levels were dropping by around two inches an hour as police officers continued searching for any trapped residents. Many bridges were still under extreme pressure from fast-flowing flood waters and were being monitored.

The Association for British Insurers was reported as saying that early estimates suggested there would be between 500 and 1,000 claims, resulting in payouts of between £50m and £100m.

The heavy rainfall was caused by a slow-moving front of air which rolled in from the Atlantic, according to the Met Office.

A spokesman said: "It was warm air coming from the Azores, so being warm it had the potential to hold a lot of water. When it hit land it was forced to rise and then cool, to produce the heavy rain."

Experts warned of a funding shortfall that could thwart official plans to prevent future floods. Nick Reeves, executive director of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management, said he welcomed the flood and water management bill, announced in the Queen's speech on Wednesday, which gives local authorities responsibility for surface water flooding for the first time and puts the Environment Agency in overall charge of flooding. But he expressed concern that most local authorities still lacked resources.